The Organizers

REACH (Rural Enterpreneurship for Art & Cultural Heritage) is a non-profit organization engagged in the task of gererating awareness of our arts,traditions and cultural practices at the grass-root level in the countryside.It strives to preserve the native wisdom and knowledge by striking a harmonious bond with the modern time.By making people aware of their rich cultural tradition and practices and preserving their heritage, it strives to restore the cultural pride to them who have been feeling powerless against the onslaught of alien values around them.

The Festivals

Virasat, folk life and heritage festival is a fortnight long event that has become an unparalleled success story in promoting music, dance, and crafts for urban audiences. The festival has a truly national presence with an international footprint. It brings together all possible aspects of heritage through a crafts bazaar, workshops, folk dances, classical & Sufi music, theatre. exhibitions, talks. seminars, film-festivals. literature festivals, cuisine presentations and much more. The festival attracts a Pan-Indian participation of about one million people along with 200 master craftspersons and 400 artistes. The folk forms, craft, art and culture of the mountain communities are presented with an academic perspective. Another unique aspect of this event is the participation of about 10,000 school children and youth from various schools and training institutes. Some features of the festival include:

• *Direct support to 100 artisans/artistes/culinary artistes from the state of Uttarakhand.
• * One million people attending the festival over the fortnight.
• * Direct support to over 400 artistes performing at the festival.
• * Infusion of economies into the creative industries of India.